Pipeline
Overview The playing field becomes a battlefield when the teams compete for a Samadhi that will change the game forever. Hit with a devastating blow, one team questions their ability to recover and prove themselves once again. Summary It's another rainy, dreary morning in the jungle, and the remaining contestants are trying to adjust to life in the huts without their friends from the recently departed Red team. JD meets with the survivors to read Red's departing letter and, more importantly, to find out which team Red has left their pyramid piece to. In the letter, the Red team reveals that they found Reece and Sarah most trustworthy, so they have decided to bestow their Trust piece upon them. This revelation miffs Tom (Brown team), who expected his good friend Kareem to leave the piece to him. The addition of Red's piece gives Purple the lead in the game, with three pyramid pieces total, followed closely by Yellow and Orange, who are tied for second place with two pieces each. JD quickly segues into the day's Endurance mission, which is on everyone's mind. But in typical JD fashion, he slyly throws in a twist: he informs the teams that the Samadhi in the day's mission will be the first one in Endurance history that every team wants to get! He goes on to warn that the contents of the Samadhi could drastically change the game for everyone on the beach. And with that small but intriguing piece of information, JD releases the group to ponder over the day's mission. After a few hours of speculation, the time finally comes for all of the teams to meet with JD to play the day's Endurance mission - Pipeline. To win this game, the teams will have to display good teamwork skills by using two poles to balance a large ball on a slim, ascending pipe and guide the ball up and into the top of a towering basket. Should the ball fall to the ground, the team will have to start all over again. The first team to guide three balls into the basket wins the game, and the mysteriously beneficial Samadhi. The teams take their positions, and JD begins the game. At the start, it seems that most of the teams are having trouble with their communication skills and cannot manage to balance the ball on the upward-sloping pipe. All of the teams other than Gray (Lindi and Chris), that is. With relative ease, Gray successfully manages to guide their first ball into the basket in a matter of seconds, while the rest of the teams struggle to keep the ball from falling. In fact, Gray gets their second ball in their basket before anyone else even gets their first ball in their basket! But just as Gray is about to seal the deal, their third ball falls to the ground about 1 foot short of the basket, forcing them to go back to the beginning to try again for that elusive third ball. The small misstep doesn't prove to be harmful to Gray, however, as they still manage to get their third ball in before anyone else gets one! With the win, Gray must now decide whether they want to keep the "good" Samadhi or give it to another team. After a brief discussion, Gray decides to keep the Samadhi for themselves. When Chris breaks open the Samadhi, the contents reveal the mystery behind the "changing the game" comment JD alluded to earlier. With this Samadhi, the Gray team has the choice to either take all of another team's pieces or to switch teammates with members from another team! JD gives the Gray team the afternoon to think about what they want to do with this newfound power. Back at the huts, it seems everyone knows that the strong Gray team is going to stick together and not switch partners so the question that everyone is gossiping over is which team's pieces Gray will take. Vanetta (Brown) seems to think that Gray will break loyalty and take Purple's three pieces, but Nicole (Orange) isn't so sure. Although she feels protected by the Gray-Purple-Orange alliance, she thinks Yellow will once again be tormented, and Gray will take their two pieces. For once, Monroe and Bryanah are in complete agreement with Nicole, and they worry about their position in the game. On the way to regrouping with JD at the island to find out about Gray's decision, Monroe kisses his pieces goodbye in anticipation of the meeting's result. And his prediction was correct. Chris confirms Yellow's fears and reveals that Gray will in fact use the Samadhi to take their two pieces. This move puts Gray into a first-place tie with the Purple team and maintains their alliance. And, of course, their decision puts Yellow in last place with zero pieces. Will Yellow be able to survive this latest setback? Game Play Standings Mission Insert information. Production Notes Quotes * 'JD: '"What's inside today's Samadhi may change this game drastically for the team wins it, so this is definitely something you will want to get." * 'Sarah: '"I'm pretty happy that we're in the lead having 3 pieces, and it feels good to know that I'm ahead of everybody else." * 'Nicole: '"Tom's basically trying to grab Red's piece out of JD's hand, and then JD passes it down to Purple, and Tom's just like, 'What?!'" * 'Monroe: '"They were so vindictive to not give you that piece that it was like, stupid; actually, I am pretty mad that I was called untrustworthy too..." * 'Bryanah: '"We never did anything to Red that made them lose their trust in us." * 'Monroe: '"It wasn't only Yellow's decision to send people to Temple— honestly, I don't know why Yellow always has to take the blame, because it's not necessarily our fault!" * 'Lindi: '"Yellow we really can't trust right now, so they're not what we would consider our friends, so that's why we've been thinking of targeting them." * 'JD: '"Purple team's really looking pretty beat up right now— I noticed Sarah, you had a wrist guard?" * 'Sarah: '"Yeah." * 'JD: '"And your partner's feet been bothering him a lot?" * 'JD: '(after Gray wins the mission) "Gray team, you now have to make a koho— that's Hawaiian for choice." * 'Lindi: '"Since this is the first good Samadhi, I think we'll keep it." * 'Chris: '(whispering to Lindi prior to opening the Samadhi) "You ready to start sending people home at Temple?" * 'Lindi: '"I hope the team we target doesn't take it personally, because this is a decision me and Chris have to make to win." * 'Nicole: '"You've got power, and you only got two options— A: take someone's pieces, or B: switch partners, and I doubt after you guys won today, you'd be like 'Oh, let's quit!'." * 'Vanetta: '"At this point in the game, you can't play by friendship, no— you have to strategize and think about the smart thing to do." * 'Nicole: '(about Bryanah possibly switching out Monroe to be with Chris) "I think that Chris is just a guy, and when he sees a girl and it gets right down to it, he just gets all stupid— this will be interesting, very interesting..." * 'Monroe: '"Everything bad always happens to us..." * 'Lindi: '"Not really; you guys have ''won stuff before." * '''Demian: '"I would have to go with strategy and take Purple's." * 'Reece: '"If they were to take ours, they'd have a big lead, and if I was them, I would too." * 'Nicole: '"Basically, there's an Orange/Purple/Gray alliance and soon to be a Orange/Yellow/Brown alliance, because I'm trying to branch off because Purple and Gray are getting too close, so now I'm just trying to come with another plank, in case I need backup." * 'Nicole: '(outlining her plan to Bryanah) "So it'd be us three against the team who came back, and we'd stay together for the rest of the game." * 'Bryanah: '"Dude... this is like, the smartest thing to do right about now." * 'Bryanah: '(after she and Nicole make a deal on the latter's plan) "The only thing I'm worried about is you don't go back on your word— because if you do, I will be mad as heck, like you'll have no idea how mad I will be." * 'Bryanah: '(further explaining her cynicism about Nicole's promise) "Nicole, she once sent me to Temple, and she can be mean— that's the only thing that I'm really iffy about because if she goes back on her word, then I'm basically in trouble." * 'Chris: '"Right now, me and Purple seem to controlling the game, so now what we do next is let Orange, Yellow and Brown who we consider as the weaker teams fight it out and we both just stay neutral." * 'Nicole: '"It's all just a big pot of lies, and it all just boils down to who really wants to win." * 'JD: '"Monroe, I noticed you kiss your hand and smack your pieces— what does that mean?" * 'Monroe: '"Well, we're probably gonna be losing our pieces tonight, so we might as well say goodbye to them." * 'JD: '(after Nicole denies having any alliances) "Nicole, does your face always turn red when you're not telling the truth?" * 'Nicole: '"Some people have alliances, but I'm not one of them!" * 'JD: '"I'm assuming by all the talk, that it's pieces that they're gonna take, but Lindi's still got that idol in her hands— Bryanah, do you think they might change partners?" * 'Bryanah: '"No... I don't think so because of all that partner selection drama in the beginning, and they seem happy with their partners now, like I am with Monroe." * 'Bryanah: '(moments after Gray steals their two pieces, leaving them with zero) "What a surprise— Yellow seems to be the team everyone goes to for the easy way out." * 'Chris: '"Purple promised us their pieces if they got sent home from Temple, and Orange said the same; Brown has only one, and Yellow has two, so it completely made sense to take Yellow's." Trivia *Second Endurance Mission on E3 where there's no pyramid piece on the line (first being Out on a Limb). *First time where the option of team switching is open. *First, and only, time a team's pieces are taken away. *First time a Gray team wins a non-superteam mission. Category:Episodes Category:Endurance Missions Category:Twists Category:Races Category:Teamwork Challenges Category:Season 3 episodes